It has been revealed that the hours-long closure of a major river crossing was caused by an incident that left an engineer injured and taken to hospital.

On Tuesday (November 22), Breydon Bridge was closed for several hours, causing traffic chaos in Great Yarmouth.

From around 3pm, the A47 was closed in both directions between the A149 and A1243 at Gapton Hall.

Norfolk Constabulary urged people to avoid the area due to the backlog of traffic.

The bridge reopened shortly before 9.30pm.

It was initially believed that the closure was due to "structural issues" but it has later come to light that it shut due to a contractor getting hurt.

The worker was injured when one of the hydraulic cylinders was being lowered into place on the bridge.

A spokesman for National Highways said: “A full safety assessment is currently being undertaken, but at this stage National Highways believes a contractor sustained a minor injury when one of the hydraulic cylinders was being lowered.

"The contractor, who was wearing appropriate safety equipment, was taken to hospital as a precaution and released a short time later.

“Safety is a priority for National Highways, and the bridge was closed temporarily as a precaution to allow checks to be carried out.

"No further issues were identified and the bridge was reopened."

In an earlier statement, Ajith Nair, project manager for the bridge’s redevelopment, had said: “We have been carrying out repairs since September to bring the bridge up to modern standards.

"This unexpected issue was identified as part of those works, and to ensure the safety of those using the bridge, it was necessary to temporarily close it.

“We remain grateful for road users’ patience while safety checks were carried out before the bridge was reopened.”